Practice makes perfect: the role of simulation in postgraduate paediatric education

Abstract

Simulation-based education (SBE) has become an integral part of postgraduate medical education in the last decade. More settings are using SBE to deliver teaching sessions, both in simulation laboratories and in the day-to-day clinical environment (in situ). This article draws on the experience in SBE course development from the paediatric simulation team at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust. We address several considerations in setting up effective SBE teaching. This includes technical and practical aspects such as acquiring equipment and involving appropriate faculty, as well as more abstract principles such as how to embed simulation in your workplace culture. We also include an introduction to effective debriefing using the Diamond Debrief model. We aspire to empower other paediatric practitioners to develop and deliver high quality SBE for postgraduate paediatric healthcare professionals.